Lubbock's new Health Department location at 18th Street and Crickets Avenue includes a Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic waiting room separated from its immunization clinic to allow for patient confidentiality. The Health Department opened at its new location Oct. 15.

Lubbock's new Health Department location at 18th Street and Crickets Avenue includes three immunization clinic examination rooms, such as this room decorated for children. The Health Department opened at its new location Oct. 15.

Lubbock’s Health Department is still settling in its new location a month after moving to the Depot Entertainment District, but its future there is uncertain.

On Oct. 15, the city moved the Health Department three blocks northeast from its 19th Street and Texas Avenue location to save $750,000 over five years, signing a $40,000-per-year lease to rent the new site, less than half the size of the 18th Street and Crickets Avenue location — a move Lubbock’s city manager and City Council members said would be temporary.

But for how long the clinic will stay at its new location city leaders could not say.

“It’s at least a five-year move because that’s the term of the lease,” said Mark Yearwood assistant city manager overseeing facilities.

Beckie Brawley, the city’s public health coordinator, said the 5,800-square-foot building, though smaller than its old location, meets her department’s needs for now, especially as the city shifts emphasis from in-clinic immunizations to mobile immunization clinics at community centers around Lubbock.

“We’re just here doing our jobs and thankful we can continue providing services to the people of Lubbock,” Brawley said.

She provided data showing comparable numbers of Lubbockites served by the department’s STD and immunization clinics before and after the move.

Despite being closed during the relocation process Oct. 1-12, the department’s immunization clinic treated 509 patients this October compared to 416 in October 2011. The STD clinic’s patient load dropped during the clinic’s abbreviated October, from 223 in October 2011 to 157 this October.

Dr. Donald May, a member of Lubbock’s Board of Health, was the sole voice on the board concerned about the new location, questioning why a clinic providing immunizations to children should be across the street from bars and clubs.

“But I haven’t heard about any problems and no news is good news,” he said.

He said he’s hopeful the new location can provide a safe, short-term solution.

But ideally, he said, the city’s Health Department clinics will move to a location closer to such medical offices as University Medical Center or Covenant Medical Center.

Board member Dr. Brian Carr, who originally supported the move, agreed with May a location closer to other medical facilities would be preferable but was content with the department’s site at least through the life of the initial lease.

“It sounds like it’s a location that fits the needs of the Health Department at this point,” he said.

Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson said he was not eager to move the department any time soon after the city spent nearly $100,000 renovating its portion of the property leased to the city by the Lubbock Housing Authority.

But, he said, the council likely will consider long-term options for the department as it looks into the city’s leases and facilities in the coming months.

Assistant City Manager Mark Yearwood said the city spent about $85,000 renovating the city’s portion of the Lubbock Housing Authority property, including outfitting examination rooms, moving walls, upgrading wiring and replacing flooring.

Brawley said crews had to remove carpet and install tile in three examination rooms.

“We wanted to make the floors where we could clean them of any potential mess,” she said.

The city moved into what was the vacant remainder of the property that most recently held Lubbock’s Mental Health Mental Retardation facility in the early 2000s.

The authority is a public agency that provides subsidized housing to low- and moderate-income individuals and families, according to the agency’s website.

Mobile immunization clinics provided by the Health Department are announced weekly.

Citizens can call 775-2914 for more information about mobile immunization clinics and health department services.

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"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own." Jonathan Swift "I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members." Groucho Marx

It is unbelievable that a city and a county has not addressed this issue long ago. Just reading, “It’s at least a five-year move because that’s the term of the lease," indicates the mission of the health needs of this community are not first and foremost, or has not been defined. Why the city has not studied how other communities resolved this is beyond me. It's male pompous arrogance, in fact. "We'll do it ourselves" but 'ourselves' are not experienced in municipal management and that includes protecting residents. And, the health “board” should have more state-board licensed medical professionals including MDs/DOs on it.

To those who believe immunizations and preventive services should be a private matter just wait until the next Poliomyelitis carrying passenger lands at LIA, or the next Rubella-infected child even comes near a woman who is in the first 12-14 weeks of pregnancy! These are examples of how children end up in state facilities seriously impaired most of their lives – at tax-payer expense that everyone hollers about.

Why hasn't the Community Health Center been asked (if they weren't) to take over some of the city-county health programs? Community health centers are the future of healthcare in the US, and deliver services much more economically and utilize resident and Fellows from universities for miles around.

Why has there not been a state-board licensed physician heading up the "health department?" Couldn't the city and county divide the responsibilities like health preventive services to the City and licensing, inspections, etc. to the county? This has to be done and it's time Judge Head and Mayor Robinson appointed a ad hoc committee to address this once and for all, including focus groups and analysis of what other cities did the past 15 years and study their outcomes, then issue a formal report to our County judge and City mayor.